Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with many world leaders while in New York City for the first week of the UN General Assembly, among them the Presidents of France, Serbia, Finland and Türkiye, the King of Jordan, the Chinese Foreign Minister, and the Secretary General of the United Nations. Less reported was that he also held an inter-faith dialogue which included American Jews, Christians and Muslims midweek at the UN Plaza. Interestingly, the most extensive reporting on the Sept. 24 meeting came from Israeli media who interviewed an Israeli-American Jew who was present, Lior Sternfeld.
Ynet, Haaretz and Times of Israel concurred in their report that Sternfeld’s message coming out of the meeting was that the new Iranian President seeks “to engage with the West, potentially sign another nuclear agreement, lift sanctions and enhance relations. The West should seize this opportunity.” Ynet quoted him: “Are they new faces in Iran? The answer is yes…. He is a moderate and seeks dialogue.”
The meeting lasted 90 minutes, with every delegate given a chance to speak, after which President Pezeshkian responded to everyone collectively, Sternfeld reported. The Iranian President emphasized the interfaith theme, “highlighting Islam’s deep reverence for other monotheistic religions and discussing shared values,” Sternfeld reported.
Sternfeld, a professor at Penn State and an expert on Iranian Jewry, was surprised that he had been invited to participate. He advised the Iranian UN Mission in advance that he holds dual Israeli-American citizenship, and the Israeli government that he had been invited, as there are Israeli laws prohibiting contact with officials from “enemy states.” Those potential obstacles overcome, he participated in the dialogue which Times of Israel reported Sternfeld characterized as “interesting… difficult… [and] respectful.”
